


a talk about things we cannot undo

by rankarana



Category: Granbelm (Anime)
Genre: F/F, but also fairly spoilers for later stuff, i am... a little into their balance..., set around ep 4-6ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21565756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rankarana/pseuds/rankarana
Summary: Anna is a perfectly perfect human being, and Suishou is anything but, and thus true mutual understanding is - surely - impossible.
Relationships: Hakamada Suishou/Anna Fugo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	a talk about things we cannot undo

The arms of another are supposed to be a comforting place to be, and Anna understands that on an emotional level.

But Anna is not an  _ emotional  _ woman. She is an intelligent, dangerous sort, and so she approaches this situation rationally, which means she is faced with the nagging notion that being in  _ Suishou’s _ arms is vaguely humiliating, in a way.

“Suishou.”

“Nyes~?”

That tone of voice, oh so  _ cute, _ at a time like this is simply, well--

…in any case, she does think that being the one embracing Suishou would somehow be worse, because the implication would then be that she is Suishou’s protector, and such an idea appalls her. Like this, there is an implication of service, a suggestion that Suishou needs her more than is necessarily reciprocal. That is right, Anna thinks. That is how things should be.

“Should we turn in for the night?”

“Well, I don’t think you’re going anywhere in that state of undress.” Not to mention, the way Suishou is holding her  _ is  _ somewhat difficult to escape from – one arm hooked under her, wrapping around her waist, and the other not quite gripping her side but coming rather close, her idle hand occasionally stroking up and down Anna’s body.

“I  _ could  _ ask for my nightgown.”

“Ah! So you could, my lady~”

“And you  _ would  _ get it for me.” That receives a chuckle in return, and Anna will generously interpret that as an  _ affirmative  _ one for Suishou’s sake. Perhaps that is a mistake, however. After all, she trusts Suishou as far as she can throw her – which is theoretically very far, naturally; she is the  _ best  _ at throwing – which puts her around the same as any other person, because ultimately trusting anyone except herself is not only foolish but also an act of severe weakness.

…however, on reflection, she may find Suishou more trustworthy—no. More  _ reliable  _ than most. Trust is hard-earned, but reliability can be proven. Suishou, simply, does not fuck up, except on the rare occasions she does, and even then there’s a certain air of assuredness to how she does so.

…on  _ second  _ reflection, that may make Suishou in fact less trustworthy than the average pawn. Complex indeed. The purr as Suishou kisses the back of her neck, the hand now… now  _ running through her hair _ , these little acts of insubordination are absurd, and yet Anna lets them happen.

Hm.

“You know, I don’t miss Rosa at all.”

“Why would anyone?” It’s a strange comment to hear, even more so when you’re in bed.

“Ah, Anna, darling, I think you’re missing the point.” …that is the kind of comment that would earn Suishou a sharp slap to her face, if Anna could see it. She at least tries to twist her head around to glare at Suishou out of the corner of her eye. (Suishou is smiling, of course. A horrible, puckered pout of a smile, breath whistling out between her lips when her eyes meet Anna’s.) “She was a pain, you know. So thirsty for your attention. An outright obstacle, even, bringing up your sister, or your responsibilities, or smart little ideas she had, when it could have been just  _ us.” _

\--this is not untrue.

Rosa had walked in on them at least twice, although surely at least one of those had been Suishou’s fault, for leaving the door of the bathroom open when she’d suddenly decided to join Anna in the icy pool—

“No,” Anna growls, the hand tracing around her navel now trailing further down.

“You don’t have to move. Consider it a good night kiss--"

“No.” She’s almost surprised how… even her voice sounds. Not that she should be; it’s a rational, intelligent reaction to the situation. To  _ not  _ deny Suishou would be giving her far too much power. Suishou’s hand dips a little further, ever so close, but… she pauses, and then retreats her hand altogether, weaving it back through Anna’s hair again, caressing it in a way that feels ever so gentle and thus infinitely more suspicious.

“Each to their own, I suppose!” Suishou chirps, sickly sweet and shrill. “Hm, in that case—would you rather me leave you be? It’s awfully cold in my own bed, but I am not a woman bested by the elements, nor my own, lonely heart. This late, and I’m sure your mother shan’t notice if I run across the hall from your bedroom, either.”

“…whatever you wish.”

“Well, then!” The heat behind her doesn’t shift – it grows tighter and warmer, Suishou’s strangely clammy hands rubbing circles into her, twisting the ends of her hair into miniature pigtails. Anna does not grace her with any acknowledgement; surely the fact she’s allowed her in a place in the bed is acknowledgement enough.

…she grows quiet, now, Suishou’s gently wheezing breaths, the way they curve up at the end as if she’s forever laughing, the only sound in the room. She should reach out, turn off the bedside lamp, but—she feels heavy, and when her eyes close, they block out the light anyway.

The last thing she thinks of before the night claims her is how she wishes Suishou’s hands were just a little warmer.

* * *

The girl is asleep, and Suishou slides her arm from under her – although Anna’s brief twitch as she does causes her to pause for a moment. Still, she doesn’t wake up, and soon Suishou sits up in the bed, already sliding her legs out of it. No matter the human warmth, sleep is not something she has found herself able to achieve with much ease for, say, the last fifty or so cycles, and accompanying Anna for her eight hours of, quote-unquote, beauty sleep before a recital is utterly unappealing.

“Oh, poor little Anna.” One last little test; words that would get herself kicked in the shin if her ladyship was awake. Instead, Suishou hopes they seep into her dreams.

She has done this  _ many  _ times before. Not the Granbelm, but this whole game, finding the woman most useful and above all  _ amusing  _ to be around, and serving as her assistant, her ally, perhaps something more. She will find a role – the knowledgeable authority figure, the mysterious enactor of cosmic justice, once even playing the earnest prudish follower to a mage with much greater desires and ambitions than Anna – and she will play it, until she inevitably gets bored and just brings the show to a close. Now, Anna is hardly the most likeable of them, and certainly not the most attractive, with the way her face contorts, curls up hideously as soon as anything breaks through the numerous chinks in her armour (and, not that she would  _ ever  _ admit this, but one of the few times she has felt ever pressed was waiting a full hour for Anna to finish touching up her makeup in the powder room at some overwrought Italian function). Truly, the form reflects the soul, and Anna is ugly inside and out.

…and yet, she is simple company. No need to put on airs around her, no need to feed her ego with performance. Anna seems to believe the act of paying  _ any  _ attention to her is one of deference, and, well, that’s… that’s cute. Beyond foolish, of course, and Suishou usually has nothing but mockery for the single brain-celled dreamers of the world, but it has taken a literal eternity for her to meet someone so cruel and so naïve, so privileged and yet so utterly powerless. Anna is— _ special,  _ in a certain kind of way.

Her legs stretch out, and she deftly leaps to the floor—or well, the thin air an inch or two above it. An ill-timed step on a creaking floorboard might awaken the little princess. So peaceful; such a sweet face suits her best. Oh, how she hates to ever  _ agree  _ with Ernesta, but her spiel about how Anna could do anything else with her life and be so much happier, well, she isn’t wrong! In the slightest!

At the end of the day, truly, she does not wish to  _ dispose  _ of Anna. The doll shall be crushed, the little sister shall make for an entertaining hunt, and dear Ernesta, well, Suishou likes to think there’s a special place in heaven for her. Wings and prayers suit her better than this world does.

And when  _ she  _ is the one to eliminate Shingetsu – because Anna would unquestionably fail if she attempted it – there’ll be that little bonus of Anna writhing in agony, forever feeling that sense of emptiness that she could never  _ prove  _ she was better than Ernesta, and for Suishou? That is  _ truly  _ a sight for sore eyes. Her feet tap against the space under her, almost breaking into a little jig at the idea of everything playing out in the most  _ satisfying  _ way possible. Eventually, she will disappear from Anna’s life, but only after Anna grows old, and realises Suishou does not, that she will be forever beautiful and powerful, far more than a failed witch forever stunted by her own dreams! Oh, now, how much more entertaining that is than having the suffering mage die, and have her unsympathetic struggle erased from history! Even Suishou’s mind ends up a little foggied by the time each cycle ends, Magiaconnatus caring little for letting her savour the experience, and how terrible would it be to entirely  _ forget  _ the Fugo clan…

…one last stroke to Anna’s hair. She leans over, ceases her dance, and allows herself that much.

_ Sweet dreams, to a princess too foolish for this world.  _

**Author's Note:**

> if more than 6 people watched granbelm i feel this would be a highly controversial pairing but because no-one did My City Now. in a happier world i think they could have been truly in love, maybe, for a few years, before totally burning each other out. suishou doesn't deserve hugs but i wouldn't mind if she got them.


End file.
